Client accounts

Why should I sign up?

What are the benefits of a Client Account?

Using our co-trading technology, Client Accounts allow you to replicate in real time the trades that Portfolio Managers selected by IBKR Asset Management are making with their own money. It gives you the benefit of active management by experts, with the safety and security of a managed account.

What kinds of portfolios are available?

A wide range of portfolios are available on IBKR Asset Management, from sector specialists to large professional investors’ portfolios. Contact Client Relations if you would like to learn more.

How it works

What are the fees?

IBKR Asset Management only charges fees on investments you make in your account. There are no fees on uninvested cash in your account or fees to redeem your investments. In addition to our management fees, you will be charged commissions by our affiliated broker-dealer Interactive Brokers LLC. Many of the portfolios on our platform invest in ETFs. For these portfolios, in addition to the management fees (IBKR Asset Management charges you) and the commissions (our affiliated broker-dealer Interactive Brokers LLC charges you), the issuer or sponsor of the ETF will also charge you fees and expenses (expense ratio). You will thus pay more when investing in ETFs through us than if you purchased the ETFs directly. Neither we nor our affiliated broker-dealer benefit from the fees and expenses charged by the ETF issuer, and for the in-house IBKR Asset Management portfolios that we select the ETFs for we try to invest in ETFs with lower fees. Information on ETF fees are disclosed in the prospectus for each ETF. Learn more about IBKR Asset Management fees.

What are performance fees?

The performance fee is a fee structure that compensates a Portfolio Manager for generating positive returns, it is calculated as a percentage of the increase in value of a client's investment in the portfolio.

For portfolios that charge a performance fee, the typical fee schedule is:

Management fee from 0.25% to 1.5%

Performance-based fee of 2%-12%

The management fee is charged based on the assets invested in the portfolio per year, accrued daily, charged monthly. The performance fee is only charged on any positive returns generated in the investment. Even within the same investment strategy, different clients can have different fee structures; some pay asset-based fees, while others pay performance-based fees. Only clients classified by IBKR Asset Management as financially “Qualified Clients” based on an online affirmation may invest in portfolios that charge performance fees. Some client accounts have fee structures that include elements of both asset-based and performance-based fee structures. Please review the Informational Brochure for further details. At the time of this update (June 2018), IBKR Asset Management does not offer any portfolios that charge a performance fee.

Are there fees to redeem from portfolios?

No. IBKR Asset Management does not charge you to redeem from portfolios, but you will be charged transaction costs or commissions by our affiliated broker-dealer Interactive Brokers LLC to close your positions.

What is the minimum deposit required?

To open an Interactive Brokers LLC brokerage account for your IBKR Asset Management investments, you need to fund it with a minimum of $5,000. If you plan to invest in a number of portfolios, or in portfolios that trade heavily, we recommend that you fund the account with a minimum of $25,000 to prevent your account being locked under SEC pattern day trading rules. Qualified Clients wishing to invest in a performance fee portfolio must invest $1,000,000 with IBKR Asset Management unless they satisfy minimum net worth requirements.

How do I know my assets are held safely?

IBKR Asset Management does not act as a custodian. We have a custodial arrangement with Interactive Brokers LLC to provide these services to you. Unlike a mutual fund investor, you continue to be the direct owner of the underlying securities that are held in your own brokerage account. Your assets are held in an Interactive Brokers LLC brokerage account in your own name.

Interactive Brokers LLC is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). As a result, our clients' assets are protected up to $500,000 in value (including $100,000 in cash awaiting reinvestment) by SIPC. SIPC membership also provides protection for broker firms against losses should a SIPC member firm fail financially and become unable to meet obligations of its securities clients. For a more detailed discussion of these client account protections at Interactive Brokers LLC, please review this page.

Can I invest in more than one portfolio?

Yes. You can invest in as many portfolios as you want in a single account. When you sign in to IBKR Asset Management you can see your positions, both in aggregate and broken out by investment.

Can IBKR Asset Management help me select a portfolio?

Our licensed and registered Client Services representatives are available to assist clients in selecting portfolios.

How can I track the performance of my investments?

You may view performance information for your investments with us by logging into your dashboard.

How do you qualify the Portfolio Managers?

All portfolios must meet certain criteria for participation before they are made available through IBKR Asset Management, and all Portfolio Managers must comply with our trading rules. Learn more about how IBKR Asset Management works.

How long does it take to replicate a trade?

Typically trades are replicated within one minute. Actual times may vary.

What does client risk score mean?

To ensure that you invest only in portfolios that are suitable for your investment objectives, risk tolerance and
financial wherewithal, IBKR Asset Management assigns you (and all IBKR Asset Management clients) a risk score.
Learn more about risk scores here »

Clients may request copies of our proxy voting policies and information on how we voted on matters related to the holdings in their account. Clients also delegate to IBKR Asset Management the authority to vote on other corporate actions, like tender offers, but are solely responsible for all legal proceedings or other types of events relating to the assets in the account, including but not limited to class action lawsuits.

Opening an account

Who can open accounts?

Currently only US residents can open IBKR Asset Management accounts. Your country of legal residence is the country where you maintain your permanent home or the country you plan to return to if you live abroad for a short period of time. Advisers registered with the US Securities Commission or a state regulator can establish accounts for clients that are US residents.

Can I open a joint, trust, corporate or retirement account?

Yes. You can open an account for whatever entity you choose. Please note that, due to bonding requirements, we do not support Simplified Employee Pension plan accounts. Also, by virtue of our affiliation with the broker-dealer for all our clients’ trades (Interactive Brokers LLC), IRA accounts are required to sign an additional authorization when opening an account with us.

Can I open multiple accounts?

Yes, IBKR Asset Management allows clients to open multiple client accounts., However, you do not need to open multiple accounts to invest in multiple portfolios. Please contact our Client Services team for more information.

Can I use my existing brokerage account?

Not at this time. To enable us to mirror trades in your brokerage account you must open a managed account with Interactive Brokers and authorize us to trade in it on your behalf. Once you sign up for an account with us, we send you all information needed to open an Interactive Brokers account linked to IBKR Asset Management.

How much should I invest with IBKR Asset Management?

You can invest in IBKRAM portfolios for as little as $5,000. Clients should invest an amount appropriate for their personal circumstances. We also advise that you set aside enough cash to cover at least six months of expenses.

How do I fund my account?

Interactive Brokers LLC offers a number of ways to fund your account, including wire transfer and payment by check. Further details on options and necessary instructions are provided when you sign up with us.

I had an account with IBKR Asset Management in the past. Can the same account be reactivated if I want to sign up again?

No. You will have to create a new account. There will be no transfer of history or data from the old account to the new one.

Using the service

How do I set my client risk score?

You can set your risk score by logging into your IBKR Asset Management account and providing responses to a set of risk assessment questions. Using an internally-developed risk scoring formula, you are assigned a risk score number between 1 and 5 based on your willingness and ability to take risk. You may only invest in portfolios with a risk score less than or equal to your risk score.

I have forgotten my password. What should I do?

On the IBKR sign in page click the 'Forgot Password?' link at the bottom, then follow the instructions.

Can I exclude certain stocks from being traded in my account?

Absolutely! You simply sign in to your account and click on the Stocks link on your dashboard menu to go to the stock exclusions section in your account. There you will be able to specify individual stocks that you do not want your IBKR Asset Management account to invest in. The portfolio that you invest in may trade these individual stocks, but once you specify a restriction, the stock you specify will not be purchased in your account.

What does "limited" mean in connection with a portfolio?

"Limited" means that a portfolio is currently closed to new investors. Existing investors are only able to redeem their investments. If you are interested in investing in a portfolio that currently has no vacancy please contact us and we will let you know when spaces become available.

Why doesn't my account look up to date?

Your account is updated continuously throughout the day. This excludes corporate actions (e.g. dividends, stock splits etc.) which can only be reconciled overnight. Please see the "As of market close" tab on the Portfolio page of your account for a fully reconciled view.

Why is there a difference between the Portfolio Manager's performance and my own?

We call this drift. There are a number of causes of drift including risk score, stock exclusions, and cashflow behavior. Drift is typically caused by Portfolio Managers trading outside of the trading rules, or in securities that are not replicated for clients due to stock restrictions specified by clients. Learn more about performance drift.

I placed an instruction to invest/redeem a few hours ago. When will the trade orders be executed?

During market hours, instructions are processed in the order they are received. After market hours, instructions will be processed after the next market open.

I was invested in a portfolio for a few days but received a monthly bill. Why?

IBKR Asset Management offers a large selection of portfolios to its clients. To ensure clients pick suitable investments for their risk profile, IBKR Asset Management limits clients’ selection of portfolios using the following four criteria:

Clients need to have a client account risk score that is greater than or equal to the portfolio they want to invest in.

Clients need to have enough funds available in their IBKR Asset Management-linked brokerage account to invest at least the minimum investment amount, which varies by portfolio and is specified on each portfolio page.

For portfolios that purchase securities on margin, clients need to have margin permission on their brokerage account.

Some Portfolio Managers have opted for accounts with extended trading capabilities (e.g., immediate settlement of trades, ability to use leverage, etc.). If your account does not possess the same abilities, IBKR Asset Management would not be able to replicate the Portfolio Manager's trades in your account. This is why some portfolios could be unavailable to you. For further details on account types, please contact us.

If I have a question regarding the trading decisions of the Portfolio Manager who manages a portfolio I’m invested in, who can I ask?

Any questions about the portfolios you are invested in can be directed to our client services department. In addition, most Portfolio Managers describe their strategies on their portfolio page.

Managing my account

How do I deposit funds?

As you complete your account application with Interactive Brokers LLC, you will notice that their website outlines the various funding options, including Wire Transfer, Electronic Bank ACH Transfer and Check. Instructions are provided for each method of deposit.

Your account can be funded once you have been given a brokerage account number. Let us know when your funds have been sent and by what method - we will monitor your account to confirm the funds have cleared and activate your IBKR Asset Management account.

Interactive Brokers LLC requires you to tell them when you have made a deposit to match incoming payments to your account. To do this fill in a Deposit Notification by signing in to Interactive Brokers LLC, select Funds Management and then Deposits and Inbound Transfers. Alternatively, click this link to be automatically re-directed to the correct page when you have logged in.

How do I withdraw cash from my account?

Sign in to your Interactive Brokers LLC Account, select Funds Management and then Withdrawals and Outbound Transfers. Please notify us if you withdraw money.

Can I change my risk score?

You may review your prior answers to and retake IBKR Asset Management’s risk questionnaire in your account settings whenever your financial situation or investment investment objectives. You should review your answers to the risk questionnaire at least once a year to ensure that your investments with us remain suitable for your particular circumstances. IBKR Asset Management will periodically prompt you to review your risk questionnaire responses in order to ensure we have the most accurate and up to date information about your financial situation and/or investment objectives. Depending on the question and our weighting of that question, revising your answers to our risk questionnaire may or may not lead to a modified risk score.

Can I cancel an instruction to invest in or redeem from a portfolio?

Generally, you cannot cancel single instructions once they are placed. However, it may be possible to cancel such instructions if placed after market hours. You are welcome to contact Client Relations to help in this regard.

Note that with recurring investments, where instructions are placed for the future, the outstanding instructions can be cancelled from the client dashboard.

I have a portfolio margin account at Interactive Brokers LLC with more than $100,000 in assets. If I partition some of the assets in this Interactive Brokers LLC brokerage account to an account managed by IBKR Asset Management, is portfolio margin affected?

An existing Interactive Brokers LLC brokerage account must have at least $110,000 in equity to be eligible for portfolio margin. Interactive Brokers LLC treats the separate partitions in a brokerage account as separate accounts for portfolio margin purposes. Therefore, you may lose access to portfolio margin for either or both partitions, if the balance in either or both partitions drops below the $100,000 minimum equity for a portfolio margin account.

My brokerage account has been suspended due to pattern day trading rules, what do I do?

We carefully monitor all our accounts for any such suspensions and will contact both you and Interactive Brokers LLC to resolve the situation. If your account has been suspended, we will be able to close existing positions but not take new positions in your account.

In order to prevent your account being locked under SEC pattern day trading rules, we recommend you fund the account with a minimum of US$30,000 if you plan to invest in either several portfolios or portfolios that trade heavily.

How do I close my account?

Once you sign in to your account, click on the portfolios you are invested in. Next click to redeem your investments from each portfolio. Once the orders are filled, the cash proceeds will be placed in your account. You can request to have the funds transferred to you via check, wire or ACH. Finally, to delete or disable your account, contact us.

Covestor Ltd (175 Federal Street, Boston, MA, 02110) (also known as "Interactive Brokers Asset Management") is an Investment Adviser registered with and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration does not imply a level of skill or training. Covestor Ltd is not registered in any jurisdiction outside the United States. While registered as a private limited company in the United Kingdom, Covestor Ltd is not registered to provide investment management or advice in the United Kingdom. This website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a solicitation or advertisement in any jurisdiction other than the United States. See important Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy Notice on our Forms and Agreements page.